Just now, jarmstro said:

On the one occasion I had to contact X-Aviation support with regard to an install issue with the Islander I got a very swift response which solved the issue.

I had to delete something in one of the Gizmo files although I can't remember what it was now. I then asked whether I could delete Gizmo now the plane is installed but was told I couldn't. I still do not understand what Gizmo really is and what it does? Is it using up resources? I have to say I'd rather not have it somehow.

If you're still using X-Plane, I'm more than happy to explain it to you.  But if you no longer use X-Plane, do you STILL want to know what Gizmo does?

6 minutes ago, GoranM said:

If you're still using X-Plane, I'm more than happy to explain it to you.  But if you no longer use X-Plane, do you STILL want to know what Gizmo does?

What makes you think I am not using X-Plane? Yes, I still use X-Plane as well as MS2020. And yes, I still want to know what Gizmo is and how to get the Islander and CRJ to work without it. Thanks.

PS. If I load up the plane and then disable Gizmo the plane stops functioning so it can't just be one off checking the licence?

Edited February 7, 20215 yr by jarmstro

Just now, jarmstro said:

What make you think I am not using X-Plane?

Oh....just a hunch.  But I've been wrong before.

Just now, jarmstro said:

And yes, I still want to know what Gizmo is and how to get the Islander and CRJ work without it.

Gizmo is X-Aviation's in house DRM and scripting language.  (Yeah, another DRM rabbit hole, that, personally, I don't want to get into because opinions on DRM are very polarized.)

All X-Aviation add ons use Gizmo for their DRM.  Removing it will remove activation from the add on.  But doing that will also render the add on useless.  You have, in essence, removed the power source for the entire add on, and you'll find many, if not all systems will not work.

Apart from the TBM and CRJ, all other add ons use Gizmo for their scripting.  Aircraft systems are coded with Gizmo.  Think of it as an alternative to SASL (used by the org).  SASL also has DRM.

As far as it taking performance away from the PC, it doesn't.  Depending on how it is used with regards to coding systems, it's very efficient and not dissimilar from other scripting or coding languages (like C/C++).  As far as DRM, it is used during activation and then lies dormant in the plugins folder.  The DRM is completely separate from the scripting side.

1 minute ago, GoranM said:

Oh....just a hunch.  But I've been wrong before.

Gizmo is X-Aviation's in house DRM and scripting language.  (Yeah, another DRM rabbit hole, that, personally, I don't want to get into because opinions on DRM are very polarized.)

All X-Aviation add ons use Gizmo for their DRM.  Removing it will remove activation from the add on.  But doing that will also render the add on useless.  You have, in essence, removed the power source for the entire add on, and you'll find many, if not all systems will not work.

Apart from the TBM and CRJ, all other add ons use Gizmo for their scripting.  Aircraft systems are coded with Gizmo.  Think of it as an alternative to SASL (used by the org).  SASL also has DRM.

As far as it taking performance away from the PC, it doesn't.  Depending on how it is used with regards to coding systems, it's very efficient and not dissimilar from other scripting or coding languages (like C/C++).  As far as DRM, it is used during activation and then lies dormant in the plugins folder.  The DRM is completely separate from the scripting side.

Thanks. What is the advantage to the end user of Gizmo over a simple licence key?

7 minutes ago, jarmstro said:

What is the advantage to the end user of Gizmo over a simple licence key?

On the scripting side, nothing.  The scripting side is advantageous to the developer.  It's based on LUA and developers can code systems very quickly with it.  As far as the DRM, apart from protecting our work (remember, every shared/pirated add on has to start with a legitimate paying customer), the advantage is you will never need to contact X-Aviation for activating an add on.  Activations and de-authorizing of PC's is controlled completely by the user.  If selected in the settings, it auto-updates your license every 2 weeks, unless you don't use X-Plane in those 2 weeks, then you need to manually enter your email and password at the prompt within the sim.  Every 6 months also requires a manual authorization.  

Regarding License keys, they need to be issued by the store/developer.  If you lose them, you need to contact the developer for replacements.

Edited February 7, 20215 yr by GoranM

7 hours ago, Janov said:

The **** some people install 😂

I actually dislike it, never use it, but literately forgot it's in my suite of scripts. But you know love to try new things.

25 minutes ago, 1st fltsimguy said:

I actually dislike it, never use it, but literately forgot it's in my suite of scripts. But you know love to try new things.

Yes, I understand - it is a common "trait" among flightsimulation hobbiests. Some are "collectors" that can´t resist installing pretty much every mod or plugin they can find. There has been a lot of turmoil over the introduction of Vulkan when those folks had ot bite the bullet and clean out their messie installation...

What folks need to be aware of is that ultimately they are responsible for keeping their system operational... and this includes weighing options and risks when wildly installing stuff. Most of these mods come with no guarantee to not only do what they promise to do, but also cause harmful effects beyond that. Effects that even their creators may not be aware off.

So I can only reiterate my advice: Keep your system as lean as possible. We see people crippling their X-Plane installation with invasive mods all the time.

In your case the fallout was much higher, though - I give you all the credit for coming forward with the solution, taking the blame and trying to wash X-Aviations name clean of your accusations, but ultimately a thread was created that tarnished a publishers name (with possibly real hard-currency damages in lost sales ensuing) - because few people tend to read these things to the very end.

In all the years we have sold our plane through X-Aviation I have not been aware of a SINGLE case where XA has withheld the product from a rightful customer. But there is only so much tech support a company can provide and it is the customers responsibility to supply a working computer system, X-Plane installation and standard internet connectivity on their side.

Cheers, Jan

Well, I don't have any other software that requires re-insertion of activation keys after just two weeks. Glad I don't have to deal with these Gizmo/X-Aviation activation issues anymore.

If this industry would be anything close to consumer friendly, I would be able to legally re-sell my keys but, as I am not, all my purchased add-ons will just be in limbo forever.

 

Edited February 7, 20215 yr by GCBraun

13 minutes ago, GCBraun said:

I don't have any other software that requires re-insertion of activation keys after just two weeks

And again, as I mentioned many times before, you can set it to auto activate every 2 weeks.  So you don't have to concern yourself with it.  The 2 weeks is for the customers security.  Not ours.  I can't even count how many people I know who have lost laptops, or left them in taxi cabs.  Imagine doing that with an activated flight sim and $100's worth of add ons, freely available to anyone who comes across a lost laptop.  Imagine using a serial key system.  Fully activated add ons on a lost or stolen laptop, with no activations online.  Try explaining that to the developer.  
Customer:  "I didn't pirate.  I lost my laptop!!".  
Developer: "Suuuuuure you lost your laptop."

Try to think a little deeper.

13 minutes ago, GCBraun said:

If this industry would be anything close to consumer friendly, I would be able to legally re-sell my keys but, as I am not, all my purchased add-ons will just be in limbo forever.

Please, by all means, list any software company that sells online software, where you can re-sell keys.  Please!

I'm more than happy to wait.  

Edited February 7, 20215 yr by GoranM

34 minutes ago, GCBraun said:

Well, I don't have any other software that requires re-insertion of activation keys after just two weeks. Glad I don't have to deal with these Gizmo/X-Aviation activation issues anymore.

That is absolutely your prerogative. As is ours as to where we want to sell our aircraft or how we want to handle our DRM.

It is a free world when it comes to flight simulation, no one is forced to use or buy anything.

I would personally rather enter my reactivation key for X-Plane or Gizmo every hour than being confined to flying mediocre aircraft in a mediocre sim 😋.

1 hour ago, GoranM said:

And again, as I mentioned many times before, you can set it to auto activate every 2 weeks.  So you don't have to concern yourself with it.  The 2 weeks is for the customers security.  Not ours.  I can't even count how many people I know who have lost laptops, or left them in taxi cabs.  Imagine doing that with an activated flight sim and $100's worth of add ons, freely available to anyone who comes across a lost laptop.  Imagine using a serial key system.  Fully activated add ons on a lost or stolen laptop, with no activations online.  Try explaining that to the developer.  
Customer:  "I didn't pirate.  I lost my laptop!!".  
Developer: "Suuuuuure you lost your laptop."
Try to think a little deeper.

 

Right, so X-Aviation has the best DRM system worldwide and users are just complaining about nothing. All of the other companies such as PMDG, FSDT, Aerosot that have a much more user-friendly approach are just doing it wrong.

 

1 hour ago, GoranM said:

Please, by all means, list any software company that sells online software, where you can re-sell keys.  Please!

I'm more than happy to wait.  

That is why I said "industry" and not X-Aviation. 

33 minutes ago, Janov said:

I would personally rather enter my reactivation key for X-Plane or Gizmo every hour than being confined to flying mediocre aircraft in a mediocre sim 😋.

Yeah sure, PMDG and FSLabs are bad aircraft and MSFS a mediocre sim with no potential whatsoever.

Edited February 7, 20215 yr by GCBraun

17 minutes ago, GCBraun said:

Right, so X-Aviation has the best DRM system worldwide and users are just complaining about nothing. All of the other companies such as PMDG, FSDT, Aerosot that have a much more user-friendly approach are just doing it wrong.

You said you hated the fact that you had to enter activation details every 2 weeks, and I told you that you didn't have to.  I also mentioned earlier that X-Aviations DRM allows the user to FULLY control their activations, with absolutely no interaction with customer support.  Convenience score out of 10?  A solid 10!  I mentioned that the user has the power to de-activate all add ons on another computer remotely from another PC.  What other developer does this??  I don't know any other DRM that allows this.  Peace of mind on steroids!  If you prefer serials, well, diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

We used to get complaints about having to wait for re-activations from customer support.  We fixed that by way of full control over your own activations, and now we have people like yourself complaining about the NEW system.  

 

17 minutes ago, GCBraun said:

That is what I said "industry" and not X-Aviation. 

You know who to blame for that.  And it's not the developers.  Online companies got sick and tired of all the piracy.

17 minutes ago, GCBraun said:

Yeah sure, PMDG and FSLabs are bad aircraft and MSFS a mediocre sim with no potential whatsoever.

I'll stand aside and let Janov reply to this one.  But as far as I'm concerned, MSFS IS a mediocre sim, with quite a few issues.  I do read the MSFS forums in avsim.  There are more complaints about MSFS from MSFS users in 1 day of posting there than there is about X-Plane in the X-Plane forums in 1 year!  It gets so funny, I sometimes have to force myself to get out of there so I can work

Edited February 7, 20215 yr by GoranM

I never quite get the issue with entering email and password, be it every two weeks or every six months. Surely every time you switch your computer on you have to enter your login name and password. If you don't have a secure login on your own computer then you are not really in a position to complain about developers trying to protect their own products. If you do have a secure login, then you are typing in those details more than once every two weeks, I would wager. 

1 hour ago, GoranM said:

I'll stand aside and let Janov reply to this one.

Thanks, Goran. I think there is no need to drag this down yet again into a X-Plane vs.... discussion. All users are acutely aware of the shortcomings of their respective platforms and we all think that our simulators "have great potential" - hope springs eternally!

Cheers, Jan

Edited February 7, 20215 yr by Janov

2 hours ago, GoranM said:

MSFS IS a mediocre sim

Will X-Aviation be selling the IXEG 737 for MS2020 if and when it's released?